We’re well into December now, and that means application deadlines are right around the corner. Maybe your student has already been accepted to one of their early action/decision schools. Congrats! But most students are still waiting to hear from schools. Maybe they’ve been deferred to regular decision. In either case, if your student has more schools to apply to by the end of the year, time is getting short! So how should your student be spending their last few weeks to make sure their applications are as strong as possible? I will share my best tips for helping students get to the finish line.

1. Wrap Up the Essays Soon

Having your student focus first on the essays can be a great way to get some early wins and make sure they have plenty of times for edits. If your student had a pretty involved early decision/action application, they should have several essays to start from. You can go through the essay questions that they need to answer with them and figure out where they need to generate brand new essays and where they can just edit existing essays. This can save your student a ton of time!

Try to shoot for finishing up all the essays by mid-December. That way, your student can have a parent, counselor, or teacher review their essays well before they’re due. This gives them some buffer in case they need to rethink an essay topic or come up with something brand new. That means it’s definitely time for them to get cracking on these essays!

2. Get Help

Have you and your student been going it alone so far? It’s not too late to get help. Whether it’s from a counselor or teacher from your student’s school or an outside counselor or coach, often a little bit of outside review and help during this busy month can make the difference between a stressful, disorganized push to the end and a breeze. This is even more important if your student does end up getting deferred to regular decision or needs to rethink their college list after not being accepted to their top choice school in early applications. If you think your student needs a little more help this month be sure to reach out soon. December schedules fill up fast.

3. Double and Triple Check

Your student can go ahead and start filling out applications or supplements with the general information that’s required. Often this will be copy and pasted from their early applications, but always be sure to double and triple check the applications and supplements. You never know when a copy paste doesn’t work out exactly right. Don’t just assume the copy and paste worked perfectly. Treat all the new supplements the same as the first, and double and triple check them.

Hopefully these tips will help you and you student have a stress-free December finalizing applications. If you have any last-minute questions, feel free to contact me at jessica@impresstheivies.com.

If you want my Insider Tips on Acing the College Application then join me for a free webinar HERE.